London to L.A. by express

Los Angeles' love affair with the U.K. is about to get more intense. New Musical Express, the venerable (and occasionally hyperbolic) London-based music magazine, is launching an L.A. counterpart to its successful London weekly, Club NME, at Spaceland.

Beginning next week, Anglophiles can expect to see indie bands from both the U.K. and the U.S. every Wednesday at the Silver Lake venue. In addition, Spaceland talent buyer Jennifer Tefft says the L.A. chapter of Club NME will feature a rotating cast of "celebrity" DJs (think Tim Burgess of the Charlatans UK, not Lindsay Lohan).

"In recent years, the magazine has done a great job of predicting what will be big in the United States," she says. "We were the first L.A. venue to book [bands like] the Editors and the Arctic Monkeys, so we want to bring that same sense of excitement and discovery to Club NME."

Club NME London, held every Friday at Koko, has hosted such acts as Babyshambles, the Killers and the Kaiser Chiefs.

Although L.A.'s Club NME will try to steer the occasional big-name touring act to the promotion, clubgoers can expect mostly up-and-coming bands -- Australian garage-pop trio the Grates kick things off on Wednesday.

Still, NME, which is beginning to aggressively market its website and magazine in the U.S., and Spaceland expect the night to become popular, especially since NME.com reports that 120,000 of its monthly visitors come from the L.A. area.

"Los Angeles gets what NME is all about," says Dee Fyfe, who as Deedeejay spins at the London club. "That's why it's being launched in L.A. first."

Fyfe, who will be on hand to DJ the launch, hopes to replicate the vibe of London's club, with a "bit of an L.A. twist."